The Dram Report

Distillery: Glasgow Distillery (Lowland) ABV: 46% Matured in first fill ex-sherry and finished in virgin oak Naturally coloured Non Chill Filtered Nose: This is the second expression from the Glasgow Distillery’s 1770 line up, a youthful peated dram full of character and just begging to be picked apart. On the nose it is bright, sweet and fresh, citrus fruits such as orange is quite prominent on the nose. For me this comes across as an artificial orange note rather than a natural orange. The sherry influence or the heather peat give this dram somewhat of a perfume note. Due to its young nature it feels like the peat literally jumps out the glass and punches you like Mike Tyson would. With 50ppm (parts per million) and being such a young age (around 4 years old according to the representatives at the stall) it hasn’t spent the necessary time in a cask to round out these flavours leaving them really aggressive. Palate: More youthful spirit mouth feel, spicy on the tong...

ABV: 46% Region: Islay Distillery: Ardbeg New Zealand Pinot Noir Cask finish For Ardbeg day 2020 the distillery blessed us with this enticing whisky in a mysterious black bottle. I was intrigued about this bottle from the moment I heard about it was was excited to find out just how much of an influence the wine casks had on the whisky. On the first pour you are greeted by the unmistakable Ardbeg smoke. Initially peaty and fruity it is an inviting dram with a lot of bark, but not a huge bite. By that I mean it is constantly threatening to send a burning fireball right up your nose, but no matter how far you stick your nose in the glass the burn never comes. I find red berries, cherry and raspberry but quite sweet, almost jam like. On the taste you can definitely tell there is something different about this whisky. The classic Islay flavours are all present such as smoke, brine, iodine, pepper but not as in your face as others from this region. I think the pinot noir casks h...

ABV:54.2% Distillery: Ardbeg Non Chill Filtered Region: Islay E150a added Oak and ex sherry cask Nose: On the first nose I am greeted strong alcohol, sweetness and peat smoke. Being bottled at cask strenght this whisky weighs in at a whopping 54.2%! Hit with an immediate dark sweetness that's fighting with the peat. Dark ripe fruits very prominent on the nose, definitely a bit sweeter than Ardbeg 10 on the nose and dare I say I think the sweetness comes across more than the 10? This is an intense interesting dram that has less of the traditional medicinal Islay note and tones the smokieness down compared to the 10. Palate: Silky mouth feel, warms the palet in a pleasant way, I find it slightly acidic and it gives the tingling sensation in the way that pineapple or a lime does with really nice bite on the finish that reminds you you're drinking Ardbeg. Such a rich whisky, definitely a dark chocolate or black coffee richness and to a certain extent. Salted Caramel...